FIG. 1 shows a part of a conventional voltage converter, in which a controller chip 10 has a high-side driver 102 and a low-side driver 104 for providing a high-side, drive signal UG and a low-side drive signal LG for a power stage of the voltage converter according to two control signals Ug-signal and Lg-signal, respectively, to switch a high-side transistor 14 and a low-side transistor 16 serially connected between a power source VIN and ground GND, so as to convert an input voltage VIN to an output voltage VOUT. If the supply voltage Vcc of the controller chip 10 is equal to the input voltage VIN, and the voltage converter of FIG. 1 has no diode 12 and bootstrap capacitor CBootstrap, the voltage supplied to the high-side power input Boot of the high-side driver 102 will be the supply voltage VIN. On the other hand, the maximum gate voltage UG of the high-side transistor 14 is equal to the high-side power input voltage VBoot, since the gate voltage UG is provided by the high-side driver 102. As a result, the maximum gate voltage UG will be equal to the supply voltage VIN, and also the input voltage VIN applied to the drain of the high-side transistor 14. Therefore, when the high-side transistor 14 is turned on, and the low-side transistor 16 is turned off, the voltage on the switch node 18, i.e., the source voltage of the high-side transistor 14, will be equal to the input voltage VIN, and as a result, when the high-side driver 102 turns on the high-side transistor 14, the gate voltage UG and the source voltage of the high-side transistor 14 will be equal instantly, causing the high-side transistor 14 to be turned off instantly after it is turned on. For this reason, the conventional voltage converter employs a bootstrap capacitor CBootstrap connected between the high-side power input Boot of the high-side driver 102 and the source of the high-side transistor 14, that is, between the boot node Boot and the switch node 18, for providing a sufficient voltage VBoot between the gate and the source of the high-side transistor 14 after turning on the high-side transistor 14.
As shown in FIG. 1, when the high-side transistor 14 is turned on, its gate voltage will be VIN+VBoot, and there is always a difference VBoot between the gate voltage VIN+VBoot and the source voltage VIN of the high-side transistor 14 due to the presence of the bootstrap capacitor CBootstrap, so that the high-side transistor 14 can remain on. However, when the high-side transistor 14 is turned off and the low-side transistor 16 is turned on, the switch node 18 is grounded, the voltage on the switch node 18 changes to zero, and therefore the charges on the bootstrap capacitor CBootstrap will be released, causing the voltage VBoot to decrease, so that the bootstrap capacitor CBootstrap will need to be charged again to recover the voltage VBoot to its previous level. The conventional voltage converter further employs a diode 12 connected between the bootstrap capacitor CBootstrap and the power source Vcc, so as to charge the bootstrap capacitor CBootstrap by the power source Vcc and prevent reverse current. Usually, a Zener diode is used for the diode 12. If the diode 12 is outside of the controller chip 10, the system design will need an extra element, so it is preferred to set the diode 12 inside the controller chip 10 when designing the controller chip 10. If the diode 12 is inside the controller chip 10, the voltage Vdiode it produces will be greater than that produced by a Zener diode outside of the controller chip 10, which may be about 1 Volt or more, causing the maximum voltage (Vcc−Vdiode) supplied to the high-side power input Boot of the high-side driver 102 to be lower.
FIG. 2 shows a part of another conventional voltage converter, in which a transistor 202 with lower turn-on voltage VON, for example a MOSFET, is set inside the controller chip 20 to replace the diode 12 of FIG. 1, such that the maximum voltage (now Vcc−VON) on the boot pin Boot will be greater. The transistor 202 is controlled by a synchronous signal SYNC, so to be switched synchronously with the low-side transistor 24. When the high-side transistor 22 is turned off and the low-side transistor 24 is turned on, the transistor 202 is turned on by the synchronous signal SYNC, and the power source Vcc could charge the bootstrap capacitor CBootstrap. When the high-side transistor 22 is turned on and the low-side transistor 24 is turned off, the transistor 202 is turned off by the synchronous signal SYNC, to prevent from reverse current flowing from the boot node Boot to the power source Vcc, and the voltage on the boot node Boot remains VIN+VBoot. Although this voltage converter is improved by removing the voltage Vdiode produced by the diode 12, the difference between the voltages on the boot node Boot and on the switch node 18 is fixed at Vcc−Von, lacking of adjustability, and the switching transistor 202 will cause additional switching loss.
FIG. 3 shows a part of yet another conventional voltage converter, in which an operational amplifier 302 and a transistor 304 are added for linear regulation so as to reduce switching loss, a transistor 308 controlled by a synchronous signal SYNC is switched synchronously with the low-side transistor 36, and a feedback voltage is produced by drawing the voltage from the node 306 and dividing with voltage divider resistors R1 and R2 for the operational amplifier 302 to compare with a reference voltage VREF to control the transistor 304. Only when the voltage on the node 306 is too low, the transistor 304 will connect the power source Vcc to the transistor 308 to charge the bootstrap capacitor CBootstrap. When being turned off, the transistor 308 will not cause switching loss. However, because the operational amplifier 302 needs compensation, an additional capacitor 32 is required as the compensation circuit, thereby requiring the controller chip 30 to have an extra pin VDD.